True Story: "I Was Swallowed By a Hippo"

"Hungry, hungry hippo" has a darker meaning for one river guide. According to Daily Mail, Paul Templer was leading a kayaking group down the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, when he was swallowed by a large male hippo.

Templer thankfully survived to tell his amazing and frightening experience, which began like a normal day. The attack occurred while Templer was giving a routine tour for his river guide business down a familiar stretch of the Zambezi River.

The group, including several apprentice guides, were nearing the end of the tour when they spotted a group of hippos. Familiar with the hippo's aggressive nature and brutal force, Templer gave the animals their space and steered his tour away from the area.

The tour paused, waiting for one of the apprentice guides to catch up with the rest of the group. Before he could reach safety, one of the animals struck. Templer remembers watching the apprentice fly through the air and he quickly paddled over to rescue him.

Templer reached the injured man and was about to grab onto his hand, when a strange sensation overwhelmed him.

"My world went dark and strangely quiet; a few very long seconds ticked by as I tried to figure out what was going on. From my waist up, I was not dry but I wasn't wet either ... not like my legs were ... I was head first, my waist down a hippo's throat," Templer told Daily Mail.

"I was aware that my legs were surrounded by water, but my top half was almost dry. I seemed to be trapped in something slimy. There was a terrible, sulphurous smell, like rotten eggs, and a tremendous pressure against my chest," Templer explained. "My arms were trapped but I managed to free one hand and felt around — my palm passed through the wiry bristles of the hippo's snout. It was only then that I realised I was underwater, trapped up to my waist in his mouth."

Eventually, after mercilessly fighting, Templer was able to wriggle out of the hippo's huge jaws and fight for the water's surface. The sight was terrifying; Templer was surrounded by a pool of his own blood. The guide was certain he would die.

"I wriggled as hard as I could, and in the few seconds in which he opened his jaws, I managed to escape," recounted Templer. "I swam towards Evans, but the hippo struck again, dragging me back under the surface. I'd never heard of a hippo attacking repeatedly like this, but he clearly wanted me dead."

Templer is able to recount his story today because one of the apprentices risked his life to save the river guide. The young man kayaked into the gruesome scene so Templer could latch onto the boat and get paddled back to shore.

"I made the mistake of taking a look at myself," he told Daily Mail. "My one arm from the elbow up had been crushed to a pulp and from the elbow down had been stripped of its flesh. Then a strange thing happened; I went incredibly calm and all the pain went away and I knew that it was my moment of choice. I knew right there and then I could shut my eyes I could drift off, I could call it a day or I could fight my way through this and I could stick around."

Templer chose to fight, somehow keeping his strength through the eight-hour journey to the nearest hospital. Torn apart by the hippo's massive tusks, doctors were uncertain if the man would survive. After hours of surgery and having his left arm amputated, Templer came out alive.

The road to recovery was long. While Templer physically healed and adapted, he had a difficult time emotionally accepting his injuries.

"Hippos' mouths have huge tusks, slicing incisors and a bunch of smaller chewing teeth. It felt as if the bull was making full use of the whole lot as he mauled me — a doctor later counted almost 40 puncture wounds and bite marks on my body," Templer recalled. "The bull simply went berserk, throwing me into the air and catching me again, shaking me like a dog with a doll."

Due to the amputation, Templer had to close his guide business and take a desk job, which he found depressing. The negative emotions surrounding these changes led to a split with his partner and months of unhappiness.

But Templer's attitude of self-pity did not last long; the man rose from his wallowing to become a stronger person. Templer is kayaking the Zambezi again, using a specially designed craft, and he has opened his own speaking and coaching business.

Hopefully, Templer's terrifying encounter will help other realize the dangers that hippos can pose. While hippos have gentle and silly representations in pop culture, these territorial animals are the third biggest killers of humans, taking the lives of approximately 300 people every year. Hippos are surprisingly fast and strong. If you encounter one of these animals in the wild, it is best to give it space and quietly leave the area.

1, You're an idiot and you can't spell. The word is hor'devours and hippos are vegetarians, so a human in a kayak doesn't look like any type of snack. It simply looks like a threat to the wives and kiddies.

You are right, he can't spell. But you are wrong hippos are not vegetarians. They are in fact omnivores. The have been known to eat carrion. You are also probably right the attack was most likely in defense of it's territory or harem.

Surely there is some way we can figure out how to BARBECUE these creatures, they are the ugliest beasts I\'ve ever seen, and so are Pigs/Hogs, but at least pigs are good eating, perhaps these guys are also.............!! Worth a try wouldn\'t you say????! Now, if I can just find one that will qualify for \"baby back ribs\"............Ham anyone.....?